“The derby is always a special game and for us to be able to win is massive,” the 26-year old said. “Our fans are still celebrating; it’s a great night for us.

“We worked very hard, they have an unbelievable strike force so we had to close the gaps and stay tight to them and we did that very well, I don’t think we gave many chances away.

“Every game you have to play to win. I do believe that the way we finish this season is going to have an impact on next season and it’s always going to start from the beginning again.

“This is a really good game for us to have under our belts and we’ll take that into next season.”

Milner opened the scoring in the 51st minute with a rasping drive from outside the penalty area and the Sky Sports Man of the Match shared his captain’s conviction that this was a game City deserved to win.

“We wanted to come here and put in a performance and I think we did that - we deserved to win,” Milner declared, “It’s always tough to come here and win but we’ve done that tonight.

“It was a great result and the aim is to keep that momentum going until the end of the season.

“Regardless of where we are in the table, a derby is always important, they’re our rivals.

“ They've got such a good record at Old Trafford, they’re very tough to break down and they don’t give many goals away.

“We’re a bit disappointed to give away a goal from a set piece because we defended really well but to say we came here and deserved the win is a massively positive thing.

“It gives us great momentum going into the weekend.”

There are still tickets available to see the champions in action in their next home game on Wednesday 17 April, when Wigan Athletic will provide the opposition.

Tickets are on general sale now at www.mcfc.co.uk/tickets, by telephone on 0161 444 1894 (option 1, option 1, option 2)* and to personal callers at the Ticket Office above the City Store at the Etihad Stadium.